25 years later, remembering the moment when the Berlin Wall fell to unity

[caption id=“attachment_1795653” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] West Germans applaud as East Berlin citizens travel through Checkpoint Charlie, at the Berlin Wall, at the border of West Berlin, West Germany on 10 November, 1989. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795655” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Russian cellist and composer Mstislav Rostropovich plays Bach next to the Berlin wall at Checkpoint Charlie on 12 November 1989. Rostropovich became an international symbol of the fight for artistic freedom under Soviet rule. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795657” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] East German soldiers cordon off the border line in front of West Berliners waiting to welcome East Berlin citizens. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795659” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] East and West German citizens celebrate as they climb the Berlin wall at the Brandenburg gate.  Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795661” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] West Berlin citizens welcome East Germans who passed the border checkpoint Invalidenstrasse after the opening of the East German border. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795663” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] An East Berlin citizen embraces a West Berlin woman as a East German border soldier watches on. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795667” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] The first section of the Berlin Wall to be dismantled by East Germany is lifted by a crane near the Brandenburg Gate in East Berlin. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795669” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] People hold a German flag with the word reading ‘Unity’ as they cross the newly opened checkpoint between East and West Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate, December 22, 1989. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795679” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] East German citizens help each other climb the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg gate as euphoria gripped the crowd.
Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795685” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] East German citizens climbed the Berlin wall at the Brandenburg Gate as they celebrated the beginning of reunification. Germany was split after the Second World War and reunited four decades later when the Berlin Wall was felled. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795695” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] West Berlin citizens welcome East Germans who passed the border checkpoint Invaliden Strasse with an East German Trabant car after the opening of the East German border was announced in this 10 November, 1989. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795699” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] A young West German girl smiles at her father as she points to a large hole in the Berlin Wall in this November 11, 1989 file photo. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795701” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Hundreds of East Berlin border guards stand atop the Berlin Wall at the Brandeburg Gate faced by thousands of West Berliners on 11 November, 1989. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795703” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] An East German bulldozer and crane knock down the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz to make way for a new border crossing in the divided city in this file photo. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795709” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] An East German border soldier looks through a large hole in the Berlin Wall. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795715” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] A young West German girl hammers the Berlin Wall in this 19 November, 1989 file photo. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795721” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] East German workers remove concrete parts of the Berlin Wall and load them onto trucks. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1795723” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] An East Berlin border guard hands a flower back to West Berlin citizens, sitting atop the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Other West Berlin citizens mingle with border guards on the East Berlin side. Reuters[/caption]